Not Forgotten
by Death of Roses
Summary: Sometimes memories just don't die. As Ginny falls into failing health, her hallucinations begin even as she keeps her head held high. Sometimes, they're just too real for her to grasp. TomxGinny
1. Little Healer That Could

**Not Forgotten**

**Chapter 1**

"If you're going to stand there and give me that after I've been running around all day on my sore feet doing errands for you, I swear I will hex you to next week!" Ginny growled, her eyebrows furrowed together in frustrated and anger. Her cheeks tinged a slight red from the hot weather, and she felt her breath grow short from rushing here to get the parcel to this green eyed jerk. She managed to throw a very piercing glare to the person she was facing.

Harry grinned back sheepishly. "I knew you would take it this way, that's why I didn't want to tell you this early." Sometimes it just wasn't easy to deal with red heads like Ginevra Weasley. "Look Ginny, don't take it the wrong way—"

"Wrong way?" Ginny huffed, her face getting redder by the second. "Harry Potter, I have just spent my whole Saturday tending to your business affairs, and you tell me that I am fired?" She seethed, her voice getting higher word by word. She couldn't believe the nerve of this man in front of her. Sometimes it was really hard to believe that she thought herself to be in love with him.

"You're not being fired!" Harry managed to get out, his face pleading. "You'll simply be relocated to another department. Ginny, this is a great thing! You'll be able to work with amazing people!"

"I will be able to work with _lunatics_ is what you mean!" She nearly screamed. How could he be so daft? "Being a healer in Saint Mungo's is not the way I want to spend my life! I don't want to be there." Harry was being so insensitive, why couldn't he open his eyes and see that she did not want to go to that place after being placed there after the chamber incident?

"It's only for a short time, please stop being so dramatic over it." Harry begged, his face in a tight, hesitant smile. He didn't want to mess with the Weasley temper too much, but he had to be the one to break the news to her. After the war, Harry had been regulated to the ministry (under Arthur Weasley) and now handled many aspects of the ministry, including assigning the healers to different locations. Honestly, Mungo's received so many abnormal cases that it needed the best healers in the field to take care of everything. And Ginny Weasley was one of the best around, so it made sense to put her there.

"Please, we really need you there." Harry smiled.

Ginny shot him another glare, and turned on her heels and left. This day couldn't have gotten any worse. She could have been sitting and chatting with her friends in some nice cafe! She could have gone on a date. Her thoughts stopped there. She almost laughed at herself out loud, if she wasn't so angry at the moment. Dating? She hadn't gone on such a thing in such a long time. Her work kept her busy. Seeing as she had nothing to do the rest of the day, since it was only late noon right now, she decided to chat up Luna and break the (horrible) news to her.

One hour later, Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood were seen sitting at the window seat of Little Angel's Cafe chatting animatedly. They gave a laugh to something that was apparently very amusing and then proceeded talking again.

"I know, Luna, I just couldn't believe that my dream would turn out to be the place I dreaded most." Ginny sighed. "I've always wanted to be a healer and I understand that Saint Mungo's is the best place for advanced healers to go, but I've just never put two and two together. Honestly I never want to go to that place." Luna gave her a look of sympathy.

"I'm sure it'll be okay. You should try it out for a week; maybe it will be different now." Luna suggested, smiling softly.

Ginny took a sip of her coffee, and looked out the window. The streets of London were pretty dirty. There really wasn't much sun, and not much of a view. She smiled. Maybe she could make the best of it. Her stomach, on the other hand, did not agree with her. It had been churning all day, shooting pains up her spine. More than once she had felt lightheaded, but she just attributed that to the heat.

"Ginny are you all right? You look pale." Luna remarked, her crystal blue eyes inspecting Ginny's face. Her friend had always been pale, but something looked amiss.

"I'm fine." Ginny smiled. "I think I'll go home and sulk about this some more." She laughed, standing up after taking care of the bill.

Luna simply smiled, concern etched across her face for her friend. "Be concerned for your own health, Ginny. Not just that of others."

Ginny didn't answer.

Upon returning to her flat—a very small place for the money she had to pay for it—she instantly moved towards the couch. Her body suddenly weighed like a sack of potatoes for it took so much effort just to stand. And as fast and that horrid feeling came so did it go. Suddenly she was feeling fine, so she decided to brush it off as her imagination from a long day. She sighed comfortably into her couch. Her couch was a creamy yellow. It wasn't new, but the lady she bought it from as very nice and took great care of it. It was very soft and very wide, perfect for when Ginny stayed up working late and ended up falling asleep on said couch. She smiled. Her place may not be much, but it was good enough for her. The walls were not very ornate, but she had a nice carpeted floor and a very nice kitchen for her to practice her culinary skills (which, in fact, were quite good if she dared say so herself). There was one bedroom where she kept her treasure and a bathroom that she adored.

She closed her eyes, her body sprawled out on the couch.

"_No! I don't want to!" Ginny screamed, a lump forming in her throat as tears threatened to cascade out of her eyes. "Please—please stop…" She started sobbing, her voice breaking._

"_Shhh, it's okay." A soothing voice reached out. A hand reached out and stroked her damp, red hair. "This is what you wanted."_

"_No! Please…" She couldn't contain her tears. Her body shook violently as she tried feebly to shy away from his hand._

_He was silent. "Soon you will understand, that everything I do… is for the greater good." His eyes were dark and clouded._

"_Tom—stop this!" She pleaded with her friend, with the one she trusted. After all, in this damp and cold place, she had nothing to hold onto but that desperate hope that Tom was..._

_That he was…_

"_Why?" She whimpered slightly, her hair damp and hanging about her face in a rather unbecoming way and tears still silently flowing down her cheeks._

_He looked at her, and was quiet. Here there was a beautiful angel in front of him. Tom Marvolo Riddle didn't have friends, he had pawns. But there was a tiny bit of him, a flicker at best, that wished she could truly be his 'friend'. As soon as that thought appeared, he banished it, a wicked smile playing at his lips._

_Maybe he knew, but maybe he didn't believe it…_

…_but he was the one she loved. _

"_Worry doesn't fit you." He said softly, so quietly that it was barely spoken._

"Worry doesn't fit you."

Ginny woke with a start, her left leg throbbing to let her know that the circulation was—ahem, cut off rather painfully. She lifted herself up, sitting upright on the couch with her breathing ragged. Her eyes closed as she tried to calm down. Then, she opened them and scanned the room frantically—desperately. No one was there.

She clutched her wand that was sitting on the coffee table in front of her and held it close.

Still, no one was there. But the last sentence sounded so real, so tangible…

She would die before admitting to any of her friends that she still had nightmares about him. Nightmares, dreams, whatever they wanted to call it. She got up, her body still a little shaky and groggy, and proceeded to grab a towel from the closet and calm herself down with a bath.

This is what you get for living by yourself, she mused. You get paranoid with the silence because anything that's quieter than a screaming Molly Weasley is considered unbearable.

Ginny frowned. Maybe one day she would get a room mate.

**xxx**

It was Sunday and the birds were chirping happily outside as the sunlight streamed very cheerfully (that is, if sunlight could actually _be_ cheerful) into the accidental gap between the curtains and onto…

Ginny Weasley's sleeping figure. Ginny Weasley's _attempting to sleep_ figure.

A loud roar rang through her apartment and led many of the neighbors to wonder if a lion was crawling around.

To say that Ginny Weasley was not a morning person would be saying that the Dark Lord was simply a confused kitten trying to find his way home.

The great bear that was Ginny Weasley got out of bed and into her slippers (protection for her dainty feet, she mused) and made her way to the kitchen.

_Ahhhhh. Coffee. My sweet, sweet, coffee. My sweet, I love you. _

Her thoughts were of content as she sipped her morning coffee (three teaspoons of sugar and a lot of cream, thank you very much!). She was content. This was Sunday, the Sunday before she had to start her _amazingly wonderful job_ tending to psychopaths. She had to rest today. She had a long journey ahead of her.

As she thought about her work, she was overcome by a huge feeling of bitterness towards Harry Potter.

It's not like that stopped being friends. It's more like—they drifted apart. Or rather, Ginny drifted apart from them. She wasn't really the socialite of the wizarding world unlike Harry Potter. They were friends still, but just… acquaintances? Family friends? There had to be some term appropriate to define the gap that was between them.

She scowled. Especially when Harry started dating models. Vivica DeFrancis, his last girlfriend, had been a bad version of Pansy. It was amazing how everyone say it but Harry, who had been desperately, hopelessly, head over heels for her.

It made Ginny want to gag. Pathetic love-induced actions like that… she shuddered as she remembered how she used to act. Never again!

Finishing her coffee, she decided to go shopping today. She was feeling fine, so she dismissed the nasty spell of yesterday as a mere fluke.

"Oh my gosh!" could be heard in Fred and George's shop as their younger sister cried indignantly at them a few hours later.

"You two…" She narrowed her eyes at them. They had pulled another prank on her (Merlin knows how she fell for it), and now her freckles had turned purple due to it. "If you don't fix this, you do not want to know what I will do you to! And worse, what _Mom_ will do to you when she hears of this!" She seethed. Ginny wasn't a force to be messed with.

True, threatening to tell 'Mommy' wasn't exactly what she had expected to do at the age of nineteen, but… it worked. The twins immediately cast the reverse spell.

Her freckles were normal.

"Erm, Ginny," Fred hesistated.

"Your face is red—erm, that is to say… redder than it normally would be." George continued nervously.

"—When it's usually this mad." Fred added, clarifying.

No one wanted to get on Ginny's bad side. But her face was an odd shape of red as if her body was suffocating.

Ginny blinked. She didn't feel sick, maybe just a little hot from the stupid heat, but other than that, she was fine.

"Stop teasing me again." She growled, preparing to walk away from her brothers and their stupid shop.

George was about to say something, but Fred jabbed him in the chest.

Ginny walked out of the shop. Not without, of course, without stepping on George's foot with all her might.

She smiled as she heard the tell tale "OW!" vibrate through the shop.

**Even if I don't know where to start,**

**Even if my love is tearing me apart, **

**I just know that you and me,**

**We were always meant to be.**

**You are the light in the dark**

**You are the beating in my heart**

**Let me hold you now**

**Just like days before you stopped to cry.**

Ginny closed her eyes as she let the music wrap itself around her body, her blood beating in tune with the music as she just relaxed to the beat of the trance. Her fingers tapped lightly on the arm of her couch in tune with the music as she just let her body lay limp on the couch after a day of shopping.

**You are my light in the dark**

**You are the beating in my heart**

**But that is not enough**

**Will I ever be by your side?  
**

She sighed, the sound of the sigh not reaching her ears. She had a silence spell on her room so that the neighbors would not complain about how loud she was blasting her music. It was a teenage thing to do, she knew but… she didn't care. It made her feel so happy. So… relaxed.

It made her forget about him, usually.

**I try my best to satisfy**

**But all you do is where we make it right**

**I don't know what I'm gunna do**

**But I'm so crazy about you**

This song was so special to her. She never told any of her friends about it—not even Luna. They wouldn't understand about muggle music.

But Ginny knew that that wasn't the reason. Hermione would probably know the band, but Ginny still refused to tell her. This was because it felt like Ginny's secret. Secrets came to her like a magnet. She didn't like sharing her favorite songs or bands with anyone, because music was what she came home to after a long day of work or a sleepless night of crying.

She hummed softly to herself as the music ended. She bought a muggle music playing device just for the hell of it, and it lay in her living room.

_Ginevra, my dearest. _

Her eyes flew open, the silence louder than the music ever was. She moved her thumb around on the wood of her wand, comforting herself. Tom used to call her that.

She felt like she should tell Luna about what was happening lately, but, what _was_ happening lately? "I hear voices, sometimes, in my head?" She frowned. She was going nuts. It was probably just her nerves of going to a new workplace. Not to mention, a new workplace that she hated. She signed, and her muscles relaxed.

She let out the breath that she had been holding.

**xxx**

"Hi, I'm Ginevra Weasley, I'm the new," Ginny's sentence was cut short by a tall, pudgy woman with a frown on her face.

"The new nurse," The woman interjected. Ginny was silent. Well Merlin, what was she to say now? 'Hello, I really hate this place, and I'm beginning to hate you'? Ginny glared at the floor.

"Well, stop wasting around." The woman said. (Wasting around? Ginny thought. What was that supposed to mean?) "I'm Madame Everett, and I am the head nurse." She said with a puff of dignity.

Honestly, she reminded Ginny of a peacock. "Julia over there will show you to your uniform and you will be given a list of patients." With that, her stubby feet in her ugly heels click clacked across the floors of St. Mungo's.

Julia was standing at the corner of the reception room, a hesitant smile on her face. She was a short girl, but then again so was Ginny. This made them relatively the same height. She had lovely brown hair that was cut short to her chin and done straight accompanied by lovely green eyes. She had a pale complexion that one would find if one stayed every day in a hospital and didn't go out. She walked towards Ginny.

"Sorry, you'll get used to her." She said meekly. "She's really not that bad once she gets used to you." She added helpfully.

"Uhm," Ginny demonstrated her wide rang of vocabulary. "Thanks."

"This way." Julia smiled. She walked with Ginny to a closet and handed Ginny her white nurse uniform, and then a clipboard with a list of information. "There's a map of the hospital there too. But if you have any questions you can ask me." Her voice was so quiet that it made Ginny sound like a roaring banshee when she talked.

"Thanks." Ginny whispered, not knowing what else to say. "Have you been here long?"

"I was orphaned here."

"Oh."

Ginny nervously held her nurse clothes in her hand as Julia smiled, waved, and walked away.

A few minutes later there was a redhead getting lost in the hospital on her first day at work. "Room… Room…" She muttered angrily, looking at the numbers on the doors as she walked down the hall way. She checked her notes for the ninth time to make sure she read right.

"Ah, here it is."

She entered the dimly lit room. The afternoon sun shone bright in the horizon but become a soft violet light as it hit the purple curtains and entered the small room.

A figure lay sleeping on the bed, his head to one side as his blonde hair was ruffled about his head in a definitely-uncombed manner. Ginny frowned and looked at the notes.

Apparently, this person was in critical condition (now stabilized) after being cursed by a loathing witch. What the spell had done, well, the ministry and healers are trying to do their best to uncover that. Ginny's job was just to make sure he didn't go back into critical condition. She frowned.

He couldn't have been any older than his mid twenties. "Haden Nott…" She frowned. Was he related to Theodore Nott? He certainly did not resemble Theodore Nott's dark features. The other Nott has dark hair and dark eyes—and while Ginny could not see this one's eyes, this one certainly did not have dark hair.

She checked the table. This is pretty good. The last hospital she was in, she had to brew all the potions by herself, even the most elementary of potions. Here at St. Mungo's, there was a line of vials on the shelves full of the everyday potions that are used to alleviate pain and minor symptoms.

Ginny was quite impressed. Just 'quite', though.

Haden always grunted and muttered in his sleep, Ginny found out. Her eyes often softened towards patients like that. It usually meant they were tormented by nightmares. Often she would give him a dreamless draught and that would be that.

Her other patients ranged from as young as five to as old as late sixties. She was busy around the clock, and she liked it that way. Being busy, taking care of people, took her mind off of how much she detested this place. She hated the white walls and was very glad that hey replaced the normally white curtains with colored ones now. It was only a slight improvement, but improvement nonetheless.

She was so tired. She was so very, very tired as she unlocked the door to her apartment after her first day at work. Oh Merlin… why did she become a Healer? She plopped down on her bed, needing something more comfortable than her couch, and just lay there. Her head pounded, her body was heavy, and she felt dizzy. Perhaps she had a nasty cold.

_Ginevra, Ginevra._

There it was. That voice again.

**A/N: Ohhh! Cliff hanger! What will happen next? *Does a dance* Yes, yes, I know it's been an impressive 'forever' since I've updated, and I'm probably the queen of not finishing stories, but THIS ONE HAS POTENTIAL! You don't understand how many plot bunnies attacked me. I have this story pretty much planned out (save for the details). **

**Review please, you must understand how happy that makes authors and how much it REALLY encourages them to update! **

**--- Death of Roses**


	2. Hear No Evil

**Not Forgotten**

**Chapter 2**

Ginny trotted down the halls of the hospital. Her complexion had gotten paler this past week. She lasted a week working at St. Mungo's already, and (grudgingly) she would admit that it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be at first. She thought of a certain dark haired male more and more, and those voices didn't stop. Sometimes they would come twice a day, sometimes only once every three days. Ginny refused to tell anyone.

She prayed it would just go away if she left it alone enough.

"Time for your check up." She raised her eyebrow as Haden scrunched up his face rather comically. Color had returned to his face now, and he was on the road to steady improvement. Of course, due to his handsome looks, many of the nurses whispered about him. Apparently, he was a curse breaker. And apparently, he was one of the worst curse breakers. Not, of course, that there were many. It wasn't exactly a popular profession.

A curse had bounded on him when he tried to break someone of it. The details were still unknown.

"Must I?" He nearly pouted. Nearly.

Ginny didn't answer as she handed him the vile. He shot her a look of sadness as he took it, and downed it. Making a sour face, he handed the empty vile back to her.

"You should be due for release any day now. Are you going back to curse breaking?" Ginny smoothed out her white skirt and opened the curtains for him.

He winced at the light. "Of course! I'm one of the best, the field needs me." He smiled.

Ginny didn't comment.

She hadn't asked him about his relation (or maybe, lack of relation) to Theodore Nott. It was something that piqued her curiousity, but since he had been in failing health before today, she didn't trouble him with such matters.

"Are you related to Theodore Nott?" She blurted out, not being able to hold back the question any longer. Merlin, the boy looked healthy enough for a simple question!

He grinned boyishly. "We're cousins. But I don't think he'd admit it if you ever asked him." There was a twinkle in his eye, mirth dancing around in his green orbs.

Green.

Ginny frowned. She missed Harry.

"_Don't worry about your brothers, Gin!" Harry laughed. "They're just jealous that you can beat them in a Quidditch." He put his arm around he shoulders reassuringly as they walked on._

"_Watch, one day you'll be a professional chaser and whoop my arse out in the field!" _

_They both laughed._

She sighed. No—she missed who she thought he was. She missed who he never was.

"You've been a curse breaker for long? My brother is one as well." She mused, putting a hand on her hip as she stood beside his bed.

"Well, I've been one ever since I graduated from Hogwarts. It's going to be my fifth year come December. And who's your brother?"

"Bill Weasley."

"Ah." He stuttered a bit. "A fine curse breaker. Might be as good as I am one day!"

She laughed softly. He was a character all right.

"Well, rest tight." She straightened out his sheets a bit, and left the room. Her stomach growled, reminding her that it was almost her lunch break.

"Ginny!" Julia called out from behind her. Ginny turned around and stopped, waiting for the young brunette to catch up with her. They walked together towards the lounge. She had become good friends with Julia in the past week. Slowly, Julia shed off much of her shyness as they began to know each other.

Julia giggled. "He's a cute one, isn't he?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Sure, but not my type. I think his ego is big enough to fill this hospital, and more."

"You could always put him under my care, if you don't like him." Julia looked more than happy to oblige, if said thing were to happen.

"Madame Everett would have a cow. She'd complain that we were treating patients like cattle to be traded." Ginny stopped as soon as she said this.

_He hated them. Those stupid beings—no better than cattle, the lot of them! He stormed, furious out of the room with his screaming caretaker and into to the small room that the boys shared bunks in. Upon seeing him in one of his rages, the children that were in the room immediately left to go somewhere else._

_He kicked the bedside table. His eyes danced in fury as his knuckles went white from how hard he had them clenched._

"_Boy! Get your no good arse back here, you're going to work for your stay!" _

_One day, Tom inhaled, I will kill him._

"Ginny? Ginny!" Julia shook her friend's shoulder.

"Huh." Ginny blinked, coming out of her daze.

"Are you all right? Maybe I'll have to nurse you!" Julia joked, but her face was serious.

Ginny was silent. That memory had hit her. She didn't just remember it—it was as if she felt it, felt the emotions… She paled.

Maybe she should talk to Luna about it. No… She didn't want to worry her friend for no reason.

"I'm fine." She smiled, and then continued walking.

Julia sighed.

**xxx**

Ginny walked along the muggle shops until reaching one of her favorite coffee shops. She always had her lunch hours here since it was a quiet place. Not many people came here, but those that did were always regulars.

"Same thing for ya today, Gin?" Todd smiled. Todd worked here. His family had owned this place for generations. He was friendly to everyone and everyone loved him for it. You can always count on Todd to cheer you up during a stressful day at work.

"Yes. Thanks, Todd." Ginny smiled, taking a seat near the corner of the cafe. She seated near the window, which offered her a clear view of the bustling streets of London. She had her nurse uniform on still, since she was in a hurry to eat and didn't bother taking it off just to put it on again. She hated her white uniform. Usually, healers wore lime-green uniforms, but the advanced healers had to wear white uniforms.

She thanked Todd again as he put a melted cheese and tomato sandwich in front of her, along with a steaming cup of coffee (made the way she liked it). She ate like there was no tomorrow.

Satisfied, she leaned back in her chair and yawned. She still had half an hour left before she had to climb through the window at Purge & Dowse Ltd. (can you believe that was how you got to St. Mungo's?)

Ginny looked into the remains of her coffee cup and sighed. She was really fed up with what was happening. Sure, she was a bit freaked out that the memories haunted her even more now and that she was hearing voices again, but she was also exasperated. What could it mean? She supposed she could ask Hermione about it…

But a part of Ginny didn't want to hear the answer, lest it be one that she didn't like. And chances were, it most likely wasn't going to be something she wanted to hear. But… Luna had a right to know. Luna had become increasingly worried over how Ginny had looked lately, and didn't hesitate to tell Ginny that the redhead looked like a swarm of mudpixies attacked her.

_I wouldn't really listen to her if I were you._

Ginny froze, sitting up straight. Her eyes widened.

That voice was unmistakable. She looked around, slowly. No one else acted like they heard anything. But… that voice, it was so clear! How could they not have heard?

_Ginevra, dearest. Why would they hear?  
_

Her hand dug into her purse for money, and she gave a weak thanks and bye to Todd as she exited the cafe. Her face were sheets to her red hair.

She felt her heart beat. Maybe… maybe if she ignored it, it would go away. She frowned. Maybe it was the stress. Maybe it was just her.

_Oh, I don't think so. Do I really sound like I'm stress induced?  
_

Oh great. He could hear her thoughts too. She walked into an alley and apparated.

"Hermione! Help!" She sobbed.

"Holy Merlin!" Hermione screamed, shocked as a hysteric redhead appeared in her office. She knocked her tea over her papers, and quickly cleaned it up with a flick of her wand. "What's wrong?"

"He—Tom," Ginny looked for the right words. What was she to say? She heard voices in her head again? "He's in my _head_!"

Silence.

Hermione didn't appear to move.

And then there was movement.

"_What?!_" Hermione yelled, casting a silencing spell on the room, and locking the door. "What do you mean? Are—are you sure?"

_Great reaction skills, huh._

"Yes I'm sure!" Ginny sobbed. "He—he speaks. I hear him and it's like no one else does!"

Hermione gribbed her wand, but didn't know what to do. "But Voldemort's dead!" She muttured, more to herself than anyone else.

"No—this, this is Tom." Ginny was sure of it. The tone, the playfulness in his voice, the malice that was tinged in it with the dripping sarcasm…it was definitely Tom. Voldemort had a different voice.

"The _diary_." Hermione gasped. "It was destroyed, but… I'll have to talk to Harry about this."

"_No!_" Ginny shouted, frantic. "Hermione, you can't! I don't want to be a test subject for the ministry. I don't want to be pitied again…" She was near tears. She didn't want the looks that everyone gave her after the Chamber incident happened. She worked too hard to convince people that she was fine, to stop the wary looks, to stop the looks of pity.

Hermione bit her lip. What was she to do? Obligation and friendship…

"Fine. I'll research it and see if I can get anything done." She sighed, conceding to the redhead's demands.

Ginny hugged her tightly. "Thank you!"

"Ginny, are you sure he isn't doing other things to you? You haven't been looking well lately." Hermione's eyes scrutinized Ginny's face, worry etched across the brunette's features.

"I'm fine." Ginny managed. "But I have to go, I'm already late to work, my lunch break ended ten minutes ago." She gave a weak smile.

Crack.

Ginny landed back in the hospital and dashed to the room she was supposed to be in. Thankfully, no one noticed her late arrival (no one, except a nurse named Sarah. But she just smiled and walked away.)

She made her way to her rounds. A small girl that had been petrified lay in one of the newer rooms. Ginny took one of the vials from the potions room to the girl, and administered it. The young girl should be fine in a week. Ginny's eyes lingered in the stone-skinned figure of the young girl. Her eyes softened sadly.

If only she could erase bits and pieces of her life…

_Would you erase me?  
_

Her muscles tensed. Oh geez, no matter how many times she had heard him speak it was still hard to get used to. She didn't want to get used to it.

Just watch, Hermione's going to get you out of my head in no time.

_So you hope._

She turned on her heel, and made her way to the third floor. Slowly, she entered Haden's room. He was awake, propped up by pillows and reading a book.

"It's time for your medicine." She smiled. Her voice was a bit weak, but she'd rather die than show everyone how weak she was getting.

"You need it more than I do, it looks like." He joked.

Ginny didn't find it particularly funny. "Ha." She managed. His eyes locked onto her eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing together.

"Oh you know. The usual. Petrified girls in rooms, cursed curse-breakers, and the usual hallucinations." She snapped. She immediately regretted it, thinking she told too much.

"Hallucinations?"

"Joke. You know, haha?"

"When I get out of here, will you join me for dinner one day?" He grinned sheepishly.

Ginny's eyes widened. What? Huh? She definitely wasn't expecting this. Was he kidding?

His face clearly showed that he was serious. She sighed—Luna did say that she didn't get out often enough to enjoy herself. (Work-a-holic, Luna always called her.)

"That sounds nice." She smiled, sincerely. "That still doesn't get you out of taking your medicine." She handed it to him, raising her eyebrows.

"Aww." He pouted, and drank it in a gulp. The usual sour face followed as he handed it back to her.

"_Curse Breaking Through the Ages?_" Ginny asked, reading the title of the book he was holding. "Can they be any more creative with the names?"

He laughed. "I guess not. It's a great book though!" His eyes lit up as he talked. He loved talking to her about curse-breaking, he could ramble about it nonstop. Sometimes, Ginny couldn't believe he was related to slytherins. Ginny smiled. It was also hard to believe that he was one of the worst curse breakers. She certainly wouldn't tell him this. Ever.

_Worried it'll break his little heart? _

Her pulse quickened, and her smile faltered. She kept the smile on though, even though it was strained. "Oh—looks like someone just came in. I better go see what's going on." She excused herself lamely, and left.

She didn't see his face fall sadly as she left.

xxx

"You are _so _irritating!" She screamed, throwing a pillow at the wall of her bedroom. It was a very funny sight to see, if it had been any random observer. Ginny Weasley, her red hair in a mess about her head, and her eyes in wild fury as she stood in her bedroom, screaming at nothing.

_You didn't think that back then._

"Because back _then_," she snarled, "You were a lying, conniving, asshole!"

_I believe I was quite charming._

If a voice could smirk, this one would be smirking.

"Why do I hear you? What are you doing to me?" She huffed, her breathing heavy as she tried to regain her breath.

_Wouldn't you like to know?_

She screamed in frustration.

"You git! You horrible, horrible, jerk!"

_What an astounding vocabulary you have there, Ginevra._

Screaming and throwing a tantrum was really taking a toll on her stamina. Her vision blurred around the edges in front of her as she felt lightheaded. She sat on the edge of her bed to steady herself, and groaned. She did not feel good at all.

"I wish you would go away." She said weakly, almost pouting.

He didn't respond.

**A/N: Whee! Tom comes in! And oh my isn't Haden adorable? Thanks to everyone who took their time to read, and those who put me on favs/story alert! And my ETERNAL gratitude to the one person who reviewed for chapter one.**

**SlytherinPrinzessin—The song that was in the first chapter is "Angel in the Night" from Basshunter. It's trance, and very catchy. Thanks for the review!**

**Needless to say, review will make the updates go faster! **


	3. See No Evil

**Not Forgotten**

**Chapter 3**

Ginny was enjoying her Saturday. Well, as much as she could. It wasn't really easy to enjoy a day after you've been hearing a voice comment on random aspects of your life. She was beginning to get used to hearing (and, well, ignoring) a certain commentator. Tom always managed to annoy her, but she refused to hold an argument with her own brain.

_Not exactly your brain._

She would find a way to get rid of him. She swore by Merlin. Bustling about in her house, she got ready to go to the Burrow.

"Vulcan!" She called out gently, watching in pride adoration as her dark-brown owl swooped in, landing on her couch and digging its claws into the material. She frowned. Okay, maybe Vulcan still needed a little more training. She handed him a treat, and he hooted in thanks.

He was a very ugly owl, honestly. That's why she chose the name, Vulcan after the god of the forge. The ugliest God. But still a divine force nevertheless. And she really thought that Vulcan was extremely intelligent. He also loved her and hated everyone else—the way she liked it.

He was on her side.

She handed him another treat, which he ate quickly, and then a letter addressed to Luna. She was just telling Luna how she was and everything, and all that usual girl gossip. Luna was a busy person, dealing in the Ministry Department of Magical Creatures. It was an occupation that led Luna to all sorts of places. When she was away, they corresponded by way of mail, and when she was here—well, Little Angel's Cafe made a lot of money of the both of them!

Vulcan took the letter gracefully, and left.

Ginny looked over at her clock. She was going to be early, but that was fine. With a last glance about her apartment to make sure everything was okay, she swished her wand and apparated.

Honestly, she should have been late. She spent the next hour just sitting on the couch in the living room after throwing gnomes around in the backyard. It was so comfortable here in the Burrow, but sometimes she enjoyed the silence of her own house.

"GINNY! Look at you, almost twenty and just sitting there—not helping! Your brothers are going to be here soon!" Molly Weasley fretted, bustling about the house trying to get it cleaned up before the rest of the kids arrived. The twins and Ron were already here, what was left was the older one. Molly had decided to have a family dinner.

Ginny knew she should have arrived late. Sighing, she got up and walked to the kitchen. Robotically, she started put down the plates on the table.

_I really can't stand your family._

I know, Ginny frowned. That's why you end up trying to kill them.

_Do I?_

She fumed silently, in her head. Hopefully, her anger and irritation would let him know that he should shut up. To her glee, he didn't comment further.

Ginny had been adamant in not telling anyone about uh—the 'extra' in her head. The only people who knew were Luna and Hermione. She didn't want the stares of pity or the hushed whispers. She didn't want to be left out of the loop again or be called weak. It shouldn't be fair to call someone weak just because a memory delved into their head when they were eleven. For years afterwards, and even to this day, Molly treated Ginny like porcelain. She berated Ginny when the younger Weasley had tried to help with housework upon release from St. Mungo's back then. Ginny never seemed to miss any of the 'secret' glances of sadness in her mother's eyes whenever the subject of diaries was brought up.

She watched Molly give a cry as Percy and Charlie arrived, enveloping them in one of her famous hugs as soon as their limbs were within reaching distance. They let out an 'umpf' upon having the wind squeezed out of them. Molly Weasley's hugs were deadly. Everyone understood this.

Laughter ensued (after some coughing fits), along with questions of 'how have you been' and 'what have you been eating? You look so skinny!' Ginny stood in the kitchen, alone, looking out the window of the Burrow.

She saw rain.

Ugh, she hated rain. It got everywhere.

_You used to like it._

She ignored him. He really didn't talk that much—then again, it was Tom she was talking about. He wasn't exactly the most talkative of people. She could feel him observing, but… she sighed. She felt like she was walking for two people. Her body felt so heavy lately, but she hadn't gained any weight. Quite the opposite, her body seemed to be on a downward spiral when it came to weight. (Molly was quite displeased about this. It's all cause she decided to live by herself. If she had stayed with her mother like a good little girl, this wouldn't have happened and so on, Molly had ranted.)

Hermione and Harry had arrived, it seemed, from Molly's frantic yells of "Oh _Harry!_ _Hermione!_" and the usual Molly-hug. Ginny, upon hearing Hermione's name, decided to enter the living room.

The twins were upstairs, probably up to no good, and Ron was sitting on the couch (soon to be occupied by Hermione and Harry as well). Percy and Charlie were upstairs setting their things down, and Ginny just stood there. She felt a bit awkward. It was hard not to feel awkward when you were around the dream team.

As soon as Hermione saw her, the brunette got out of the seat she was in and hurried towards Ginny—giving her a big hug. Harry grinned up at them. He hadn't said much to Ginny. Then again, he was afraid that she would still be mad at him for the whole job-switching business. Ron was talking animatedly to Harry, and could care less about his sister.

"I've found something." Hermione whispered in Ginny's ear as they hugged. Ahh, the age old way of not drawing suspicion.

Froze.

Ginny's eyes widened. A shiver went up her spine. Something? A cure? Getting rid of Tom? Please, please let it be true. Please let it work. Please don't get my hopes up.

"Ginny, stop hyperventilating!" Hermione added, her eyes wide.

Calm, calm, calm.

Breath _in, out_.

Ginny breathed. "Tonight?" She plastered a smile on her face, so that the boys wouldn't get suspicious (which usually led to general nosiness). Hermione smiled in confirmation.

Ginny could feel Tom's curiosity rise, mixed with anger. Her teeth grit itself in a way that was out of her control, and her fists clenched by themselves like a marionette on strings. A part of her wanted to jump up and down from excitement, and the other part of her wanted to slap the girl in front of her. It was a bit too much for a girl to handle sometimes.

"Bill!" Molly was near tears. She was so happy, all her children together like this! Usually one or two would be too busy to show up, so this was a rare occasion indeed. Bill, looking tall as ever, grinned back at her.

"Sorry, the children were making a mess. Victoire wouldn't stop crying about Dominique and Louis taking his broom—Well, they're with their mother visiting grandmother now." He explained.

"It's quite all right, now come-come!" Molly gave him a push on the back towards the direction of the kitchen. "You all, get down here for dinner!" She screamed towards the stairs.

Arthur, Charlie, Ron, Percy, and the twins bounded down. Molly gave a sigh. Sometimes, she felt like she was running a schoolhouse of children.

"Mum, did you hear about what that blasted git Malfoy tried to do?" Ron whined as everyone began to sit down at the dinner table. "His stupid company tried to appeal to the court, saying that Hermione and I got out jobs solely cause of Harry. That arrogant arse-ho--"

"RON!" Molly shot him a glare. "Language!" Though, she really didn't sound that menacing. It was not okay to use language. It was, however, okay to use language in your head when talking about the Malfoys.

"Well," Ron rolled his eyes, "Now he got the just end of it, eh? 'Draco Malfoy Suffers as Model Vivica DeFrancis Gives Back Ring.'" Ron laughed.

Ginny noticed as Harry paled at the name.

_Your brother sure knows how to be sensitive._

Ginny paled at the words.

"Ginny? Are you all right?" Bill, who sat next to Ginny, whispered. She assured him she was, but he just raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Would everyone stop asking her if she was all right? If she wasn't dead, then of course she was all right! And she didn't care if her logic made no sense.

She ate her food in silent frustration. Stupid carrot.

"Charlie, what's up with your arm?" Fred sniggered. "Looks like a kid with bad coloring skills got to it." George added. And they were right, Charlie's arm had bad bruises of purple and gray, along with brown burns.

"Peruvian Vipertooth was a bit grouchy." Charlie grinned sheepishly.

Percy's jaw would've dropped, but he was too dignified for that. "You were messing with _those?_ They're poisonous! They eat humans!"

"Well, this one was just a baby. I didn't get bitten, it was just throwing a small tantrum because it was fed up of eating spiders."

Molly interjected. "That's enough of that talk!" Honestly, no mother wants to hear about how close her son came to being poisoned by a dragon. "Harry, how's work going?"

Blushing because suddenly all pairs of eyes were on him, Harry tried his best not to stutter. "Uhm." He sat up straighter. "It's good." He finished lamely.

Fred and George sniggered. Even Ginny had to hold back laughter. One would think that after all these years, Harry would get used to having a big family dinner—but alas, it was not to be.

**xxx**

Dinner finished rather late since no one wanted to stop talking. (that's what you get with so many people together). Ginny and Hermione were sitting on the bed in Ginny's room.

"Okay, so, I was looking everything up and," Hermione cast a silencing spell on the room, "there's a lot of things I still don't know." Ginny's face fell.

"But," Hermione continued, "I made a potion specifically for keeping him out of your head. It should work, I mean, everything I looked up pointed to these ingredients, and--"

Ginny hugged her, stopping the flustered girl in her babble. "It's okay. I'm sure it will work. It can't really get worse." She grimaced.

"Are you sure you're up to taking it, Gin?" Hermione sighed desperately.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't exactly look very, uhm, healthy."

"Yes I do."

Hermione raised her eyebrow.

"Okay, fine, maybe I don't. It's what you get after spending hours preparing for the dinner." Ginny prayed Hermione would bite into that excuse.

Of course, the brunette wouldn't fall for such a thing. But there were no further questions on that subject.

"Here. You should take it now, while I'm here to stop anything from happening." Hermione dug something small out of her purse, and cast a spell to enlarge it to its actual size. It was a vial, closed, but still a vial of purple looking liquid. It bubbled a little bit.

_Stupid mudblood! Stupid stupid!_

Ginny winced. She could feel Tom's anger. Serves him right, ha! She uncorked the vial and drank. Now, let's see how he feels if he didn't exist!

"This tased _baaaaa…"_

Falling. Falling, weightlessly.

Pain—maybe she wasn't that weightless.

**Pain. **Oh Merlin, the Pain.

"Ginny!"

It seemed like years later before she regained consciousness. Her eyelids felt heavy, and her head still kind of throbbed.

"Mnrnf." She groaned to let whoever was around to know that she wasn't dead. That was what patients were supposed to do. Somehow, it was harder than it seemed. Her throat was dry and wasn't really willing to comply.

"Ginny? Oh Ginny! Wake up!" A frantic girl voice entered her ears. It has to be Hermione, thought Ginny. I hope her potion worked.

Tom? Excuse me? Can you hear me?

Silence. Victory!

A smile crossed Ginny's face as slowly, she forced herself to open her eyes. Oh, oh, white, white. The tell-tale look of the room, as Ginny's vision slowly adjusted, told her she was in St. Mungo's. What irony.

Brown filled her gaze.

"Erm, Hermione, do you mind not hugging so hard?" Pat, pat.

Why isn't she loosening her hold?

Pat, pat…?

"Oh, I was so worried! I had to tell Molly that you fell asleep, and--" Hermione was close to tears. It had all been her fault. She let go of Ginny, sadness etched across her face.

Ginny looked around.

**Holy, What the, Merlin!**

She screamed. In the corner sitting in one of the guest chairs was a smirking male. He leaned against the wall nonchalantly, his black hair combed perfectly as his dark eyes fixed on her. He was wearing the Slytherin school robes, his arms crossed in front of his chest. His eyes narrowed gleefully.

In the corner sitting in one of the guest chairs was Tom Marvolo Riddle.

**BREATH. **_In, out, in out. _

"What? What's wrong?" Hermione looked around, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, then turned back to Ginny.

"Hermione…" Ginny gulped. "You don't see him?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "No, Ginny… I don't." She panicked. "Does this mean—but—how real does he look?"

Tom was silent, watching the reactions with amusement.

Breath. Breath in. Breath out.

"He's—he's right over there." Ginny pointed.

But there was nothing there, Hermione frowned. Oh crap.

"Let me get a nurse."

Ginny nearly cursed. "I _am_ a nurse here! And you can't tell anyone about this!" She didn't want to be locked up in St. Mungo's and treated like a specimen again.

Never that, please.

Hermione was at a loss of what to do. "If I can't find anything about…this, then you will hear from the nurses here." She gave in.

"All right."

**xxx**

"_Dear Ginny,_

_Don't think I forgot about that date you promised me. How does Giovanni's at 7 sound? Let's say, next Saturday?_ _I'll be looking forward to your reply._

_Love, _

_Haden."_

Ginny put the letter down on her counter. She hurriedly scribbled a confirmation letter and sent it out with Vulcan. Ever since she apparated home, Tom just sat on the couch (her couch!) languidly and rested. Do memories even rest? She stood in her kitchen, having ignored him for the last few minutes.

"Just tell me why you're here." Ginny hissed, walking into the living room and glaring at his calm expression.

"I don't see a point in not telling you." Tom raised an eyebrow, infuriating the redhead even more. "One moment I was suffering in the diary, and next I'm here." He admitted grudgingly.

Wait. Did that mean he didn't know either?

"How… how real are you?" She gulped. He had been pretty real in the Chamber.

Tom got up, his face in a smirk as he walked over to Ginny. She took a few steps back. His eyes held a mischievous glint as he advanced.

"Get away from me!"

He grabbed her wrist, holding it painfully. Ginny gave a yelp; it was surely going to bruise.

"I'm very real, when it comes to you." His smirk widened. "But, apparently, not for anything else." He let go of her wrist, and walked through the couch in demonstration. He turned to look at her, and suddenly, he disappeared.

Damn Tom. He always had to make a grand entrance and a grand exit.

She looked around for him. Hello, she thought, are you there?

No answer.

At least he was out of her head. Ginny sighed. Why didn't the potion work? I better wait for Hermione to tell me that.

Hours later, Ginny was sprawled on her bed, sleeping soundly. No nightmares tormented her, no monsters of the dark made her groan and whimper. Not tonight.

Tom sat on her windowsill, looking out at London's night. His skin glowed as the moonlight hit it, and passed through it. Was he a ghost? How much of him was real?

Could he ever be real?

He honestly didn't know what was going on, much to his displeasure. One moment he thought he was dying (if a memory can die), and then next thing he knew, he had heard Ginny in his thoughts. Her thoughts were the only thing in the darkness that he could hear. It was a really horrible feeling—to feel like one was surrounded by a black nothingness. It gave doubts on whether or not one existed. Then, suddenly, voices here and there. Slowly, he began to see what she saw, to hear what she heard. He began to listen to what she thought.

Sometimes he wished his thoughts were that mundane and innocent. She usually mused about things from how horrible the nurses outfit looked, how much her ankles hurt from walking on them all the time, to what dinner should consist of.

He turned his gaze towards her figure. Her red hair cascaded across her back. It was quite long now, not like it had been then. It met midway across her back in soft curls, and had taken on a weird shade of scarlet. Her pale face seemed to shine in the moonlight. She was weakening by the day, and he knew it. Very few things escaped his knowledge. His rise and her downfall were always correlated.

'_Dear Tom,_

_Today—you have to hear about today—it's the happiest day of my life! Harry Potter told me I was sweet! I can't believe it! He actually noticed me. Oh Tom, I wish you could feel how happy I am right now. It's amazing. I gave him a small flower, and he blushed, and called me sweet! I have to go, my teacher is looking at me weirdly._

_Love,_

_Ginny'_

He was so fond of her back then. She poured her heart out to him and trusted him in a way no one else ever had. Yes, she was a pawn for him to use, but she was one of the more noteworthy of pawns. At one point—he had deluded himself into thinking of her as a friend. He almost thought she cared.

She had been so innocent, so caring. She would come to him, writing frantically, crying about how her brothers ignored her or writing joyfully about how Harry Potter smiled at her.

She was no longer the small child that she was back then. Her figure had definitely grown, he mused. But he really could care less for her now. He had fell in love with her innocence. Since he loved it so much, he took it from her. Now, she was again just a mere tool.

Was her soul feeding into his? Did he even have a soul?

He had felt bad when he knew he was killing her, the younger her, but now he didn't feel any remorse. Seeing her grow just reminded him how susceptible to _time_ she was. She was not eternal like he was—she was so…mortal.

Then again, at least she was _real_. At least the universe recognized her existence.

He frowned. He had rummaged through her memories quite effortlessly and found out many of the things he needed to know. So Voldemort, his older self, was defeated. How…dreary.

He paused, thinking back on the potion that the mudblood had given Ginny. It was supposed to work. The color of the potion, the texture… it was made perfectly, even if he hated to admit that mudbloods could do something right. The only reason for it not to have worked was…

He contemplated whether or not to keep his mouth shut. She couldn't do anything to prevent it either way.

He closed his eyes, and disappeared.

**A/N: Tom writes his own dialogue, I swear. And the characters seem to write their own plot, for some reason. So uh oh, Tom can only physically touch Ginny. But why? *Glee* **

**And also, thanks SO much for the reviews! And I'm going off Canon mostly, but I just didn't want to kill off Fred. So, in this story, Fred never died, k? The twins are still together. Tonks, Remus, yes, they're dead. I'm sorry. =( And yes, those three children –are- the children of Bill and Fleur, according to the books. I did my research *-***

**Also, I have a betaaaaa! ****Jonn Wood**** is my beta, and it's thanks to him that my grammar errors are going to be killed by a red pen! (It's amazing x-x Thank him for the story flowing better!)**

**The Creatress: Thanks! I read your GinnyxTom story as well so I was like, jaw dropping when you reviewed. I love your dialogue between Ginny and Tom. And thanks, but like I said, they write their own dialogue :( I never plan it. It just happens. I'm still in confusion about what Tom's personality is like, in my story. X_X**

**Chocolistic: Poor Ginny, yes yes. I have a lot in store!~**

**SlytherinPrinzessin: KEKEKE. That's for you to find out! I'm actually not too sure, swt. There are so many scenarios that I've mapped out, I guess I'll chose when time comes.**

**Review! See how fast I update when people review? *-***


	4. Speak No Evil

**Not Forgotten**

**Chapter 4**

Ginny sulked her way around the hospital. You couldn't describe her action as 'walking' or 'working' because those words have a certain hint of _effort_ required. No, she was doing what a snail would do in terms of motion. Her lime-green nurse outfit hung loosely around her shoulders and her cheekbones held a certain unhealthy look about them. She was getting worried about her state of health, or rather the _lack_ of health. Needless to say, Ginny avoided her mother, Hermione, and Luna at all costs. She didn't want them to fuss over her or to worry.

But Ginny had stopped thinking that her situation was caused by a 'common cold' or 'the heat'. She didn't say a word to Tom about it, lest she looked weak and unable to take care of herself. As she did her rounds, Tom followed silently behind her. He wasn't looking any less transparent than he did at first, so he couldn't be sapping her life energy. If he was, it wasn't going anywhere, because he was making no progress toward developing a tangible body.

In fact, only she could touch him.

"Do you _have_ to follow me? Can't you disappear?" She hissed under her breath when no nurses were in the hallway. The last thing Ginny wanted was to be labeled crazy. It took her enough effort as it was to cast glamour spells upon herself so that her friends didn't notice.

Tom stopped, a few feet behind the young witch. He glared at her with venom in his gaze. Apparently, he was annoyed as well. "It takes a load of concentration for me to _disappear_, believe it or not." He hissed back. It didn't make sense to him either. Ever since he got out of her head, so to speak, it got harder and harder to dematerialize.

Ginny glared and continued walking. She opened one of the doors and walked in, closing it behind her. Tom didn't care about closed doors. It might as well have been the Great Wall; not that it would have made any difference. He walked easily through.

"How are you feeling?" She said in a soft voice. The curtains were opened slightly, letting some light in as a young girl with blonde hair was propped up.

"Fine, miss." The girl said meekly. Poor thing. Her voice was still a bit hoarse from being hit with a nasty cutting curse to her back that had left her in a coma for a month. The healers had made haste when she arrived at the hospital, so she wouldn't have any lasting effects. After hearing that the girl was from an orphanage, Ginny didn't want to send her back until she was fully healed.

Ginny leaned down and grabbed one of the Pepperup Potions and handed it to her patient. She winced as she gulped it down, steam coming out of her ears, and handed it back, lips curled in distaste.

Ginny laughed, taking the vial and putting it away.

"Don't worry, it's for your own good." Ginny smiled. She felt sorry for the girl. All this time, and still no one visited the young child. The person who had Apparated her here was a stranger and had promptly left after laying the child on the hospital floor, blood getting everywhere and all.

"Will you read to me sometime?" The child, Melissa, asked softly. Her eyes looked down at her hands, not daring too look up. Despite her reserved demeanor, Melissa was still every bit a child of four.

Ginny smiled. "Of course. Not today though, you need your rest."

Tom watched from the corner, not saying a word.

Ginny left the room and was about to get ready to leave when a voice stopped her.

"Wait!" Julia cried out, walking briskly from the end of the hallway to catch up with the redhead. "What're you doing this weekend?" The brunette smiled.

"Uh—I'm going to dinner with a friend." Ginny felt her face heat up. Please don't let me look too flustered. Sometimes she really hated being a redhead.

"Oh?" Julia paused, raising an eyebrow. Then she broke into a sly smile. "With who?"

Ginny swallowed. "Haden."

Julia's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. She gasped. "Oh _my!_" With a laugh, she patted Ginny on the shoulder. "Good catch!"

Ginny swore she was a tomato. She glanced at Tom, who was a few meters away, just behind Julia.

He smirked, though annoyance was written all over his face. Girls could be so idiotic, making a fuss about such trivial things.

Ginny looked back at Julia, hoping her friend didn't notice. "I said _friend_, not a date."

Julia just winked and said goodbye, before heading off the other direction.

**xxx**

"Will you please turn around?" Ginny nearly screamed with exasperation. She had dress upon dress sprawled out on her bed, and honestly, she was tired of hearing Tom critique (or rather, criticize) every aspect of her clothing, hair, and anything else he could lay his eyes on!

He snarled and turned his back to her, his arms crossed over his chest indignantly. "You know, I don't see why you think wasting three hours deciding what to wear is going to make a date go any better."

She wanted to throw something at him. She changed into a silky navy dress, looked in the mirror, and smiled. This was the one. It complemented her maroon hair nicely; as the dress was so dark it could be called black instead of blue. It was strapless and knee length, perfect with a touch of silver heels.

"It looks nice."

Ginny spun around and fidgeted a bit since the words caught her by surprise. Sure? Thanks? You too? What was she supposed to say in reply?

"Erm—thanks."

Tom didn't say anything. He was still in the school robes from the days at Hogwart's, his head boy badge gleaming proudly. Ginny sighed, her eyes softening.

"Can't you change your clothing?" She asked gently.

There was silence.

"No. I've tried."

She felt a bit bad—but then promptly reminded herself that he wasn't real, he tried to kill her, and that this was all his fault. She gave a huff and ignored him, feeling a bit angry after reminding herself of the situation.

She finished adjusting her hair so that it curled to one side. She quickly applied her makeup. She still had half an hour before she even had to leave her house, so there was no hurry. She slipped a bit on the way out of the bathroom but caught herself in the doorway. Ugh. Stupid lightheaded-attacks every now and then really got on her nerves.

Tom panicked a bit. If she died, would that mean he would die as well? Not that he was alive, but… maybe he _could_ be alive, one day. He knew if she continued like this, she would be dead soon. He had let it continue at first because he thought that her getting weaker would mean he would get stronger, but it wasn't so. He didn't feel any bit stronger than at first, yet she was spiraling down rapidly.

"Are you—all right?" He asked, his tone cultivated, like the gentleman he could be.

Ginny remembered that tone, all right. She nodded at him weakly and walked to the living room. Sighing, she sat on her couch.

"Say, if I killed you, would you die?" She asked out of nowhere.

Tom turned around to look at her, stricken.

"I mean, I can touch you right? So that means, if I chopped you up or something, you would go away?"

Surely she wouldn't? Tom hesitated. "I'll have you know, I could very much do the same to you! And I doubt magic would work on something that doesn't _exist_!" He hissed, striding forward so that he stood in front of her sitting figure, his fists clenched tightly by his side.

"Yes, but," She remained calm even though she was a bit frightened, "If I were to die, you would most likely stop existing as well." She furrowed her brow. After a bit of tense silence between the two of them, in which he glared her down, she groaned. "Bloody hell, this is so confusing."

Boy, was she right about that one.

**xxx**

Ginny fidgeted with the hem of her dress a little bit as she waited outside of Giovani's Italian Pasta. Okay, so what if she was early? Did that mean she was too eager? Was that bad? Should she leave and come back in… 5 minutes?

"Stop fidgeting, it's so annoying to watch you be so pathetic." Tom snarled.

She glared at him, but stopped fidgeting.

And then, suddenly, she felt her heart do a flipflop as Haden appeared. He was handsome and ,honestly, he looked so much better dressed up instead of lying on the hospital bed in the ugly hospital gown. His blonde hair was slightly tussled and cut short, and his green eyes held a mirth about them that shined when he looked at her and smiled. His skin was slightly tan now, unlike the paleness it once held when it was cooped up in the hospital, and gave him a healthy glow.

Ginny caught herself before she started drooling.

"You look—wow." He finished lamely, grinning from ear to ear. He held out his arm for her to take it. She blushed, muttered a quick thanks, and held his arm shyly as they made their way in. It was a really fancy place, and the first thing Ginny wondered was how he was able to afford such a place when he was supposed to be…

"Shame he's the worst curse breaker around. I wonder how he affords this." Tom's voice butted into, breaking her thought process.

She stiffened a bit, and then relaxed when she remembered that she was the only one who could hear—or see—Tom. Damn him for voicing her thoughts exactly.

Tom trailed behind them, looking very out of place with his robes in this place filled with nice suits and silk dresses. He followed the pair, and felt a little pang of…something, as he thought about how he would never have been able to afford outfits like those in his past life. He couldn't stay at the apartment or go out, sadly. Once, he had tried that after an argument with the redhead, and found out that he tended to 'thin' around the 'edges' as he got further away from her. Go even further and it would be like he didn't exist—and when he concentrated, he was next to her again. It made no sense.

"What prompted this special occasion?" Ginny smiled playfully as the waiter lead the two to their booth. Ginny sat down, and sharply took a breath as she felt Tom wedge into the seat beside her.

He snarled. "I'm tired of playing butler and standing around."

She ignored him, smiling at Haden while she pinched Tom under the table. That elicited a hiss from Tom, who glared hatred at her.

"Well," Haden grinned, "I just had to see my favorite nurse." He laughed, hands fiddling with the menu. He looked spectacular in a black suit and it made his broad shoulders stand out even more.

"And I had to talk to you about something." He added after a short pause, though some of the mirth had left his smile.

Ginny frowned, perplexed. "Oh? What?"

But before he could answer, the waiter appeared again with questions on what they would like. Haden ordered for the both of them after Ginny told him what she wanted. The waiter nodded, and left.

There was a bit of silence while Haden ran his hand through his hair absently, ruffling the blonde locks even more and sighed. Tom made a disgusted face at the man. The dark haired male was more than displeased to be in this situation. Ginny just decided to ignore him.

"Gin—have you been feeling erm, weird lately?" Haden kept his eyes locked on the table cloth in front of him.

"What do you mean?" Ginny furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Haden was the picture of nervousness.

"Well—I'm a curse breaker and you look a bit…cursed." He grinned goofily, one hand scratching the back of his neck as a nervous habit.

Oh my god. Does he know? He couldn't know. How does he know? How _much_ does he know? What should I say?

"No, no, no! I mean, don't freak out, I might be wrong." Haden urgently added, panicking as a stricken look took over Ginny's face. Her eyes widened, and then blinked.

"Uhm. What?" She chose her words carefully, and her brain decided to stick with the simple tactic of feigning innocence.

"Well, you just have all the telltale signs. I mean, if you were sick, you'd just nurse yourself back to health. The only thing that can't be cured by the normal ways are curses, and I kind of just… have a feeling in my gut." He sighed, knowing that his argument wasn't supported by factual evidence.

"Great one for words, isn't he?" Tom scoffed through gritted teeth.

"Well…" Ginny sighed. It was better than asking Harry or Ron, that's for sure. "You might be right, I guess." She whispered quietly. Then she leaned back as a chicken alfredo was put in front of her and a Tour De Italy special was put in front of Haden. But honestly, she didn't have much of an appetite anymore.

Tom was in deep thought as the two ate their food with the occasional idle chatter. The subject of a curse was avoided for the moment since the mood had gotten very somber. A curse? He had figured that much on his own, after the potion didn't work. The only reason potions like that wouldn't work would be if powerful magic repelled them, out of the body. Somehow, he was forced out of her mind as well, which was a clear sign of strength returning to him. Could the two be correlated? Maybe the more she tried to find ways to resist the curse, the stronger he would get? Some magic worked like that…

He'd have to look it up. And there was only one way for him to get himself to Diagon Alley without letting Ginny know. At least, he hoped she wouldn't notice. It seemed that the only thing he could touch was…her. He couldn't even touch anything that she was holding. This perplexed him; he would have to find out more about it.

For now, maybe he would gain her trust again. That would be very useful, especially if he wanted to turn the tides to his favor.

He grinned a very cunning grin, one that Ginny did not see.

As Haden ate with a healthy appetite, Ginny was just picking at her food. Another wave of lightheadedness came over her, and she felt her body sway as her vision blurred a bit. It'd go away in a second, but for now—oh Merlin it felt like she was sea sick or something.

She leaned against Tom and he stiffened, looking at her curiously. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her so that she was sitting upright, then let go. She really was being drained of energy.

"Are you all right?" Haden asked, his eyes holding confusion and worry. "We can get you home you know, they can just put it on my tab."

Ginny shook her head. "No, I'm fine." She smiled weakly trying to reassure him. Damn Tom for all this! She quickly spared a glance at his direction, and found that he was looking at her with worry on his face as well. _Stupid git, not like he worries about anyone other than himself. _

"Are _ooouuu shuuurrrr?_" She heard Haden's voice echo from miles away, it seemed. Her vision really blurred and she was…

_Falling, falling…_

_And then she remembered nothing._

**xxx**

Since Haden didn't know where she lived, he had Apparated a very fainted Ginny into his house. It was a small place, perfect for a bachelor. He had to go away for some business, but he had stayed with Ginny for a few hours as she rested in one of the guest bedrooms. Before he left, he had written a small note telling her what happened and where she was along with where he was.

Tom sat in silence on the bed where Ginny was sleeping. He looked at his hands. They held no sign of improvement. He was not getting stronger, that was for sure. But Ginny—he frowned. Honestly he could care less if she died, but if her death was linked to his 'death', then he had to find a way to help her or to sever the bond between them.

He frowned, then reached through the sheets and picked Ginny up. She was light, and disturbingly so. Somehow, he could still feel her weight, and Tom wasn't known for his amazing strength. He faltered a bit but then stood straight, carrying her on his back. The house elves had, thankfully, changed her into a night gown so he didn't have to worry about ripping silk.

Still, her skin was strangely soft and warm against his. He blushed a bit, and focused on his destination instead of the warm body that he was holding.

A person like Haden, who had such fervor for curse breaking, had to have a library. Tom was sure of it. Since he couldn't move much further than a room's distance away from Ginny, he might as well take the stupid girl with him. She had fainted, so he doubted she was going to awake any time soon.

And with that in mind, he made his treacherous journey around the house. After much wandering, he had found the library. It was a very small room but it was lined with books from corner to corner and shelf to shelf.

He smirked. Gently, he held her hand and grabbed a few books of a shelf of his choosing. He had to wrap his fingers around hers in concentration, lest she drop them on her foot or something. He put her on the chair in front of the desk, and used her fingers to open the covers and flip the pages.

It wasn't until hours later that Tom found something useful to him.

He carefully helped Ginny put the books back, and carried her back to the guest room and into the confines of the sheets.

He would have to ponder the information a bit. What he had found out was unnerving.

**A/N: Tom is a bit evil isn****'****t he? I guess he****'****ll start caring for Ginny only because he needs her trust to help him. Anyway, only one review for the last chapter?! Gasp. Oh well, I really want to know what everyone thinks of this fic so far. Is it too fast? Too slow? Well, what are YOU guys looking for? REVIEW and tell me! YES you can influence the plot *-***

**SlytherinPrinzessin****—****Yehhhh more Tom in this chapter! **

**ALifeOfShadows-- Thank you! I'm glad you like it.**

**Intricacy--Cucumber o-o Ouch. Very..blunt.**

**NovemberDreamer--Yaay. Sorry about the late update, was waiting for reviews.**

**kerofish1-- Yeah. Fred and George, together, are my favorite people. Seperating them is just unthinkable in my mind.**

**And I like to give a bit shout out of thanks to my beta, ****Jonn Wood****. He makes it all better *-*!!**


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